Hauling around luggage sucks. I should have packed less. It didn't really seem like much back in Sydney but 12-odd kilos packed into a suitcase whose wheels don't work is a real pain in the ass! Bit of an off-topic rant, but it needed to make its way into the journal somehow.
Checked out of the Shiba Park Hotel quite early. The hotel probably isn't the best place room-wise but the staff, the foyet, and the business-work area are great! Maybe we just got cheap-ass rooms. One of the biggest plusses of the Shiba Park Hotel is that it is quite central and easy to get to via train (3 trainstations inside a 10 minute walk).
The first mode of transportation was the monorail. We dragged our luggage across to the JR Station, Hanamatsucho, and caught the monorail all the way to the airport. At least there were no transfers this time! Getting onto the monorail at peak hour was intense. The Japanese call their train/monorails sushi-cars - and I can see why... we were packed in. I mean packed in. What really didn't help was the fact that we were travelling with our luggage. I spent an age jammed against the door with no hand-holds. An experience.
One of the wierdest things of note was a pair of school girls (private school based on the fact that they were wearing a uniform) catching the monorail all the way to the airport. Must be a field trip, otherwise the daily commute to school would be an expensive one.
The flight from Haneda Airport to New Chitose Airport was hassle free. I actually slept on the flight - so all was good. The commute is only an hour and a bit. Not only is it a short trip - it is a popular trip. Apparently the Handea - New Chitose link is the busiest air link in the world. Interseting, no?
Once we disembarked from the place we hung around at New Chitose Airport. There wasn't any real reason other than waiting for a Ski Japan representative to show up. None showed up. Somewhat disappointing given that everything in Japan is so efficient. We even trekked down to the Ski Japan booth at the far end of the airport terminal - still nobody. Arg. Eventually some Ski Japan people rocked up - it was easy to see why... they weren't Japanese - they were Aussies! Damn inefficient Aussies :D.
The trip from New Chitose Airport to Niseko Ski Resort (Niseko United) took approximately 2 and a half hours - with a brief stop-over in a little place called Forest. Ski Japan then managed to drop us off at Pension Grand Papa without too much fuss. I spent the majority of the trip asleep. So there isn't too much to comment on there!
Once we arrived at the Pension we headed up to the reception area. It was there where we first met two of the staff - the owner Yoko-san, and a young Japanese girl named Miyuki. We were lead to our rooms and were told of a few simple house rules. The house rules were quite liberal, but the common area was to be closed at 11pm each night.
The first order of the afternoon after checking into the pension was to hire our ski gear. We were recommended to hire our gear from the Australian-run store NBS by Ski Japan (Niseko Base Sports). We hired skis, boots, and ski-pants and I don't believe that we got a good deal... lack of research! Oh well. The service was somewhat sub-par, yet I guess that I was expecting something exceptional (more in line with Japanese standards).
A fairly lazy day today, though. Ate dinner at approximately 6:30pm at a restaurant on the corner of the main road (opposite the convenience store "Seicomart"). The restaurant was a sushi restaurant, quite a good choice and reasonably priced. What did we order? Well, it was a fairly predictable "sushi set". I don't believe that it was just for the foreigners though, as the Japanese on the table next to us were happily munching away on the same thing!
Back at the lodge we killed some time by bumming around in the Common Room. It was empty tonight. The common room is quite cosy at night - quite possibly due to the open fire in the fireplace. The night was made even more interesting as Miyuki came down for a chat. Dave and I tried to converse, and it was actually quite fun. Wish I knew a bit of Japanese. Points to note is that she is to begin learning English at Sapporo University this year. Wish I learnt languages at Uni... too late now.
Early night tonight - as the slopes awaited in the morning.
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